US Open 2013: American men fail to reach the fourth round in New York for the first time since 1881

The organisers of the US Open were facing up to a low point in the
tournament's history after Tim Smyczek’s defeat confirmed that there would
be no home-grown players in the last 16 for the first time.

Last man standing: Tim Smyczek's third-round exit marked a new low for US men's tennisPhoto: AP

Smyczek, the world No. 109 whose tournament car ran out of petrol on the way to the US Open last week, came within two points of beating Spain’s Marcel Granollers on Sunday night, but America’s last man standing also ran out of gas.

The 25-year-old’s 6-4 4-6 0-6 6-3 7-5 loss followed earlier defeats for Jack Sock and US No. 1 John Isner, the No. 13 seed in New York who fell to Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 3-6 7-5 7-6. In the second round, 26th-seeded Sam Querrey fell to Adrian Mannarino, while Ryan Harrison drew pre-tournament favourite Rafael Nadal in the first round.

“I don't care,” said Isner, whose serve began misfiring late in the third set, when asked for his thoughts on the demise of US men’s tennis. “I'm going to watch football for a while. That's all I care about.”

With that, the hopes of a nation rested with Smyczek, a Wisconsin journeyman better accustomed to the lower-tier Challenger Tour than the Grand Slams. Fans chanted “USA! USA!” and “Tim! Tim! Tim!” as Smyczek went moved 4-1 up in the fifth set. “I never had to step up to the baseline with goose bumps so many times,” he said. “I'd never heard someone yell out, ‘You’re our last hope!’ That was new.”

The weight of expectation, and Granollers’ experience, eventually took their toll. The Spaniard broke back in the final set to level up at 4-4 and fought back at 5-4 when Smyczek found himself two points from victory and a fourth-round showdown with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

“Couldn’t be much more disappointed right now,” Smyczek said. “It was pretty cool to be the last American in the draw for a day. Got a little taste of it.”

The milestone marks a worrisome trend for US tennis. Earlier this year Isner dropped out of the top 20, the first time the lead rankings had not featured an American man since they were introduced in 1973. No American man reached the fourth round at any Grand Slam singles event in 2013, a first for the Open era.

Granollers, for his part, expects the US to recover from the recent dearth in top talent in the men’s game.

“Every year is different. The quality of the game nowadays is quite even,” said Granollers. “It just happens that no one managed to get that far, but there are several talented American players, and I'm sure that they will have good results in the future.”

From Bill Tilden to Don Budge, Jimmy Connors to John McEnroe, through the golden era of Chang, Courier, Sampras and Agassi and on to Andy Roddick’s status as the nation’s flagbearer, American tennis has always had representatives at the top of men’s tennis.

Roddick’s retirement at the 2012 US Open exposed the true state of play in the American game – struggling to compete in an improving global talent pool. The women’s game is still spearheaded by Serena Williams but rising stars Sloane Stephens, Jamie Hampton and Madison Keys are moving their way up the rankings, while Alison Riske will play for a place in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows on Monday. In doubles, the Bryan brothers are on course for an historic calendar slam.

But the success of previous generations has created a monster for the current crop of American men. World No. 10 Milos Raonic, the highest-ranked man in Canada's history, admits he does not face the same pressure as his American counterparts.

"The relief, definitely, is there is obviously a lot more pressure on Americans," Raonic said. "I'm doing a lot of stuff into unchartered territories, so people are very supportive of it, whereas I feel it's a little bit unfair to the American players. Everybody is expecting Pete and Agassi to be there on the top."